Coventry Foodbank is set to help hundreds of hungry families this Christmas.

The charity has seen an upsurge in donations over the past few weeks which has forced them to find a second warehouse.

However it means they are now perfectly set to help those who struggle to put a decent meal on the table due to money problems or other factors in their lives.

Project manager Hugh McNeill said: “We collected ten tons of food in November and then probably another ten to 12 tons after that leading up to Christmas.

“That is compared to five tons taken up over the same period last year.

“Our centres are still being inundated with offers of food and we are now having to put food also in another location as we have got that much.

“That means we have reached capacity here and that is an amazing achievement for us.

“For some reason, people’s generosity has been far beyond what we had imagined and people seem to have really caught the idea this year of supporting the Foodbank.

“The response has been amazing and we have been overwhelmed - we are really, really pleased that people have continued to support us.”

Project manager Hugh McNeill and warehouse manager Mitch Brooke

The city’s foodbank, which delivered its 50,000th food parcel to a family in need last month, is supported by residents and businesses from one side of Coventry to the other.

And Hugh admits they could not be more grateful to every single person that had give to the Hillfields charity in 2014.

He said: “We have to thanks all the members of the public that have donated and also businesses such as Severn Trent, Barclays, Natwest, Yorkshire Building Society and Coventry Building Society who provided all the chocolate for the children we took to the panto at the Belgrade Theatre.

“It is a great chance for children who may have never been to the panto before and also for those families that have had a tough year.

“Workers at Rolls Royce also deserve a big mention as many of them are being laid off, yet they have found it in their hearts to donate food to us.